Fanzine 29 doc

ISSUE
TWENTYNINE
JUNE/JULY
FREE
LOS CAMPESINOS LADYTRON
BE YOUR OWN PET FLEET FOXES THE RASCALS
TOKYO POLICE CLUB CATS IN PARIS LAYMAR
MAGIC ARM MOON WINDOW THE LIONHEART BROTHERS CREAMFIELDS
ISSUE
TWENTYNINE
JUNE/JULY
features
Introducing… The Lionheart Brothers &
Laymar SIX
Introducing… Cats in Paris &
Magic Arm Moon Window SEVEN
The Rascals NINE
Tokyo Police Club TEN
Be_Your_Own_Pet ELEVEN
Fleet Foxes TWELVE
Los_Campesinos THIRTEEN
Ladytron FOURTEEN
Creamfields 10yrs TWENTYSIX
Regulars
Manchester news FIVE
Single reviews SIXTEEN
Album reviews EIGHTEEN
Futuresonic reviews TWENTY
New Noise TWENTYTHREE
Manchester Listings TWENTYFOUR
For more reviews, interviews,
comment and info on all
HighVoltage activities log on to
highvoltage.org.uk
This issue is dedicated to Alistair Beech who has
stepped down from his position as assistant editor
in order to build his career in music PR in London.
We hope Ali will still contribute reviews, though
everyone at HV would like to thank him for his
hard work over the past 3 years.
See highvoltagesounds.co.uk for
label info and new
HighVoltage releases
EDITOR - Richard Cheetham - [email protected] ASSISTANT EDITOR - Alistair Beech - [email protected]
FEATURES EDITOR - Adrian Barrowdale - [email protected] REVIEWS EDITOR - Fran Donnelly - [email protected]
NEW BAND EDITOR - Stephen Eddie - [email protected] LISTINGS EDITOR - Mike Caulfield - [email protected]
DESIGN - Andy Cake | Soap | www.soapforall.co.uk
CONTRIBUTORS - Alex Barbanneau, Hannah Bayfield, Sarah Boardman, Hannah Clark, Neil Condron, Phil Daker, Richard Fox,
Jade French, Lauren Holden, Chris Horner, Billy Idle, James Morton, Sophie Parkes, Liam Pennington, Andy Porter, Simon Pursehouse,
Michael Roberts, Gareth Roberts, Alexia Rogers-Wright, Jamila Scott, Benjamin Thomas, Simon Smallbone, Jack Titley, Megan Vaughan
two
three
June/July
_News...
As DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh
Prince remind us, summertime is
a time to sit back and unwind.
Unless you're in Manchester, in
which case it's time for all-night
BBQs, house parties and doing
anything but sitting back.
appearance whilst equally rare right now,
won't miss The Maple State consolidating a great
The Longcut make their looong overdue return
first half of the year at Night n Day, 06/07, and
with old friends Akoustik Anarkhy, at new
just as unmissable is Twisted Wheel's Oldham
favourite The Deaf Institute on June 20th.
homecoming on July 26th.
Keith and former Snowfighters Delphic take over
So are you coming to Glasto? Be sure to check
The Aftershow on 27/06 and then there's that
out Manchester's (well, Concrete Recordings')
24hr Tony Wilson Experience at Cathedral
own Late N Live stage at some point, where
Gardens on June 21st, promising to be an
going into the night you can catch Orphan Boy,
explosion of general creativity as legends talk
Travelling Band, Keith and Rachael Kichenside.
Of course the gigs cut back for the next few
music.
It's just like a night in town, but with added
months as we lay waste to pastures greener over
If you're not festivalling just yet, then Radiohead
festival goodness.
festival season, but there's a treat or two back
have their own big day at Lancashire CC (29/06)
home. Modern dance icon Matthew Dear is
whilst The Music (and their great new album)
unbelievably coming to Night n Day on 13/06,
follow about ten sold out Manchester dates this
bringing his downbeat tech-pop for a rare
year at Academy 1 on July 1st. Naturally you
Event of
the Month...
Alright, so it's not til August, but with it now
With added camping over 22nd/23rd August
being a weekend affair it's a good time to get
there's twice the lineup of previous years; the
these things planned ahead. Loathe to slum it
obviously highlight being the Prophet of
with smelly moshers at Leeds this summer, HV
Longsight, Ian Brown sharing a stage with The
will itching for festival action and for its 10th
Whip. Kasabian have their only UK festival date
Anniversary, local megafestival Creamfields is
and Underworld are set for a stormer along with
our bet. It might be a Liverpool institution, but
scores of mint DJs. And then there's Soulwax,
it's actually like, less than half an hour on the
The Presets and Simian Mobile Disco. Head to
train to Warrington an then you're laughing all
the back page for boss-head James Barton's
the way to Daresbury, Cheshire.
reckonings…
Words: Fran Donnelly
four
five
INT R O DUC ING
The Lionheart Brothers
THE Lionheart Brothers have just
played their most bizarre gig yet. It's
April 4 and Norway's finest exports
are the latest act to join Lancaster
Library's endless list of top acts to
perform in the city. Watched by a
crowd mostly made up of
tweenagers, The Lionheart Brothers'
show follows previous library sets by
The Thrills, Adele, Bat for Lashes and
The Long Blondes. Speaking to High
Voltage backstage after the show, the
five-piece are enjoying a rare rest.
"The library show was great. It was
different, you know" says guitarist and
vocalist Marcus Forsgren. “We've
never played in a library before, it was
really cool. A lot of people showed
up!"
They had better get used to it. Over
the last few months, the boys are
gradually making a firm mark on the
British scene, what with their album
'Dizzy Kiss' finally being released in
the UK. So how've they gone down
over here?
Influenced by Beach Boys and Miles
Davis amongst others, theirs is a
transcendental, dreamy mix of
mystic pop rock.
Despite success in their hometown,
the band's biggest highlight to date
has been breaking out of little ole
Trondheim and playing to crowds in
England and New York. “We're
coming back to England this
summer," continues Marcus, "We'll
be doing loads of festivals, Summer
Sundae and Great Escape. Oh and
a Drowned in Sound tour."
But they might not be spending too
much time hanging out with English
bands. "I think every English band
sounds the same." says Marcus
"There's nothing new happening.”
But with that, he adds: "We're really
looking forward to coming over. The
people are nice and the fans are
great."
Words: Lauren Holden
www.myspace.com/lionheartbrothers
'Dizzy Kiss' is out now on
"British fans are very similar to
ShellShock
Norwegian fans actually," says
Morten "No, maybe they're a bit more
open. Norwegian crowds are quite
sceptic, they analyse you a bit.
"The British reaction has been great
though, very positive."
With Marcus Forsgren and Morten
Oby on guitar and vocals, the band is
comprised of Peter Rudolfsen on
drums, Audun Storset on organ and
Frantz Andreasson on bass.
six
LAYMAR
“We take a lot of influence from
Manchester as a city and believe it to
be intrinsic to our sound, more so
than a lot of the other bands that we
know of who are based here.”
So explain Manchester’s psychedelic
post-rockers Laymar, on the eve of
the release of their debut LP. The
intense layers of noise created on In
Strange Lines and Distances (check
review towards the back of the ‘zine)
belies their numbers, as Laymar are
actually three gentlemen in their early
twenties - David Paul (drums /
programming), Ciaran Cullen (bass /
synthesizer) and Colin Williams
(guitar, piano / synthesizer.
Putting the LP Together can’t have
been an easy experience?
“The LP is a mix of three people’s
lives over the last eight years; an
attempt at throwing their feeling and
thoughts into their instruments, no
matter how dark or euphoric, then
creating pieces of music out of them.
It should be listened to as a whole
from beginning to end.”
It was recorded in late 2007 with the
help of Tom Knotts at Airtight Studios
on an industrial estate in Chorlton,
and Laymar seem to hold him in
pretty high regard: “we now believe
Tom Knotts to be a genius.” Clearly
‘Genius’ Knotts has captured
something unique.
Not ones to standstill, Laymar
recently retreated to Cornwall to work
on LP number two. Ciaran explains
that: “The new material, although still
in its infancy, is more rhythmically
orientated. Still vocal-less (apart from
the odd sample), thought provoking
and moving.
“Writing new material in Cornwall
allowed us access to a purer way of
thinking and helped us to
concentrate solely on our music,
outside of the distractions of our
lives. This was productive but on a
permanent basis we thought it would
alter our sound to a point of no
longer being relevant to ourselves
and our home.” Serious words
indeed.
Taking the time to regroup merely
exasperates HVs feeling that Laymar
are laying off right at the start of a
wonderful musical quest, and we just
hope they get around to filling our
ears with aural delights for a long
time to come.
Words: Richard Cheetham
www.myspace.com/laymarmusic
In Strange Lines and Distances
released on TV Records on 23rd
June
Magic Arm Moon Window
It seems that 2008 is the year that
eyes are turning back to
Manchester, but the experience
would be so much richer if those
eyes peer towards Cats in Paris.
There’s no chance of Mancswagger pigeonholing here; not
only do they claim to have found
their name in a dream (of a 30ft
kitten wrapped around the Eiffel
Tower like King Kong), but from a
starting point of “awesome plinky
plonky macrosongs with
glockenspiels and toy drums”, they
have ended up “a bit ‘I'm at the top
of a mountain’ prog-epic”. Whatever
that means, it sounds like nothing
else right now.
despite the traditionally folk-based
festival diversifying. “We've done a
few folk nights before” they say,
“where we're totally out of place.
It's actually quite good being a
sore thumb once in a while.”
A bit prog, a bit post-rock and a lot
of fun, the band “purposefully try to
keep people guessing”, and even
suggest that a Venn diagram may
be the best way to show the
overlap in their varied tastes. Their
live shows are mesmerising, wholly
frenetic with numerous shifts in
genre and have won them support
slots with Islands and a triumphant
Sounds from the Other City show
where “the room was crammed full
of people and sweat and good
vibes. In fact it was the sweatiest
we've ever been, officially” and they
“had a serious dance off with the
incredible band Gentle Friendly. We
totally won.”
Words: Hannah Bayfield
Looking to the future they’re off to
this summer’s Green Man Festival,
a slot they landed through local
label Akoustik Anarkhy, where they
admit they may be out on a limb
And last, but hopefully not least, if
Cats in Paris were actually cats,
which part of Paris would they
hang out in? After suggesting our
own preference we get the
response “If you're on the
Montmartre steps, then we'll go
there, and maybe we could go for
a coffee, or a beer, maybe a show,
and maybe, just maybe, back to
yours?” Miaow.
www.myspace.com/catsinparis
Foxes/Terrapins is out now on
Akoustik Anarkhy
If to the undiscerning outsider the
sight of another scruffy, backwardslooking Manchester troupe on the
cover of music weeklies suggests
the musical tide up here changes
as often as the weather clears,
they’d be wrong.
One of many artists to break from
swaggering traditions is Magic Arm
(elsewhere known as Marc
Rigelsford), whose upbeat
electronica and off-kilter melodies
adorning debut EP ‘Outdoor
Games’ have been drawing giddy
approval from fans and critics alikewith Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear
going so far as to say “I dare you to
tell me it sucks.”
High Voltage caught up with Marc
as he and co-producer Robin
Housman (previously working with
HV favourites The Answering
Machine and Polytechnic) add the
final few tweaks to his upcoming
debut LP ‘Widths and Heights’.
“It’s been about five months since
we started, from the original demos.
It’s a very meticulous process, cos
I’d been working on some tracks for
a year previously, I didn’t want to
lose the feel on the drums,
atmosphere and sounds. So whilst
Robin might usually be working with
thirty tracks on a band’s recording,
with us it’s been with nearly a
hundred. So it’s pretty painstaking;
we’ve kinda been experiencing a bit
of cabin fever…”
something sonically more
technicolor, “I’ve been listening to a
lot of hip hop and pop-R&B
production, people like Rihanna and
Kanye West. That kind of overlyproduced, really good pop, and just
pushing the electronic thing further
too. ”
Past live shows have been strictly
solitary affairs, although this also
looks to be changing for upcoming
jaunts. “ I’m gonna be working with
a band called My Side Of The
Mountain; it’s gonna be great to
actually play the songs as you first
envisioned them rather than just
sticking to loops – which I do enjoy
– but I think for this record it’ll be
more relevant, and more fun too.”
The outcome is sure to be some of
the most joyous and infectious
sounds heard all summer.
Words: Mike Caulfield
www.myspace.com/magicarm
Magic Arm play at The Night and
Day Café on 11th June.
Whilst previously stripped down to
essential loops and acoustic
strumming, early indications point to
seven
The morning after The
Whip's Manchester
homecoming and HV is
washing down AlkaSelzer with five spoons
of instant coffee (with
like, water obviously).
It's barely dinnertime
and it feels far too early
to talk rock ‘n’ roll. The
equally groggy Scouse
croak down the phone
agrees, and speaking
only in lowest tones of
voice we caught up
with Greg Mighall of
The Rascals - three top
chaps from Hoylake on
the Wirral. It's been a
year since they formed
and he's going to
quietly tell us about the
album they've got in the
can.
eight
"We did it in like four weeks,"
he hazily recalls, "so it was pretty
quick to record. It's literally the first
batch of songs we did together and
was all done as live takes.
Everyone sounds the same these
days but the way we've done it,
you've got to play it right and it's
more honest I think. Some people
use Pro Tools an’ it works, but for
us we don't need it really."
Nevertheless the drummer's
surprisingly coy about how well he
thinks the album will be received.
With songs like the kooky, effectsstuttering 'Freakbeat Phantom' he
could be pretty confident, but
instead he just wants to get these
songs out on the road with their
biggest tour yet, starting this Friday.
"That's what it's all about for me.
We love it on tour. What's not to
like? Playing your songs to different
people in a different place every
night, know what I mean?" And
when Greg's on tour, is it a
perennial hangover or a chance
to soak up some culture? "Oh
yeah, I'm there taking pictures of
cathedrals an’ that."
Well, Greg will have plenty of time
to take in Manchester's sights next
week when they get down to Club
Academy. Following their sold out
appearance at Night & Day last
November, it should be a cracker.
Live, The Rascals are psychedelic
and boisterous, brought to life by
Miles' distinctive drawl. Together
they're a tight unit that batters out
fraught rock before spinning off in a
wash of guitars and effects. "Every
gig we give a hundred percent,"
says their drummer. "It's never like
we can't be arsed. We make sure
there's like a dynamic in the set
with ups and downs to keep people
interested. Every night, even if we
are nursing hangovers."
When past tours have involved
onstage japes with mates Arctic
Monkeys, there'll no doubt some
giggles and mischief? "Well we
know each other better than
anyone else," Greg agrees.
"There's never any tension or any
of that, we just have a laugh."
"I knew Miles when I was seven but
then didn’t see him for awhile.
We'd all go to the same gigs – me
an Joe used would go to see
The Libertines or The Cooper
Temple Clause and Joe would
be like, "there's that lad again".
It turned out to be Miles who I'd
known years ago."
Now 21, the three mates play
Glastonbury's Thursday, on a
Liverpool Leftfield stage that puts
them alongside other Merseysiders
like Elle S'Appelle and The Seal
Cub Clubbing Club. What does
Greg make of the activity round
their way over the last year?
"There's loads of good stuff coming
out at the moment. It's not even
necessarily stuff that we're into but
you can appreciate that it's a good
thing. We're not really part of any
scene – there're four or five bands
that are sort of linked, but we've
always done our own thing."
heroes The Little Flames. Despite
some success, the boys felt they
had to leave and take a chance.
"We joined The Little Flames but it
was always like, ‘one day we'll do
something’. Even before then we
were gonna get a band together
but it never happened. It's been a
big circle to get where we are but
it's been better that why cos we
know what we're doing now."
Backed by their experiences, the
trio were quickly resigned by
Deltasonic, a label synonymous
with top music in Liverpool. But
being a band who dabble with a
60s style and a cheeky lads lack of
pretension, are they worried about
being written off as just another
Coral? "I don't think we are like
other Deltasonic bands that much
really, but you're always gonna get
people making the comparisons.
It's not a concern though; we're not
worried about it."
Fair enough mate. Either way, HV
won't be missing The Rascals
psyche-rock explosion next week.
Provided we've recovered by then.
Words: Fran Donnelly
The Rascals play Club Academy
on June 3rd. Album Rascalize
is out June 23rd on Deltasonic.
www.myspace.com/rascalmusic
The decision to do their own is
what brings them to us today after
amicably moving on from cult
nine
be your
_own pet
TOKYO_
POLICE_
CLUB
friends watching and have a great
time. The US is huge so it takes a
long time to tour and spread our
music, but there are definitely
certain parts of America that show
us a great time every time we're
there."
It’s two years since Tokyo Police
Club’s mini album, A Lesson In
Crime, was released in North
America and gradually slipped into
the British Isles' consciousness.
Showcasing a heady mix of postpunk, indiepop and emo, the
Canadian teens' EPs and last
summer's single, 'Your English Is
Good', trimmed alternative rock's
indulgent flab, delivering brief and
catchy songs tailor-made for the
live arena. The pressures of
extensive touring and no little
procrastination over how their first
proper album should sound
delayed the release of their début
album, Elephant Shell, until last
month.
Ahead of their UK tour in June, we
spoke with lead singer and bassist,
Dave Monks, the day after their
biggest headlining show to date,
the Metro in Chicago.
HV: How was last night?
DM: “There was a bit of
nervousness going into the show,
which can be a good thing, but it
was amazing!”
You seem to have quite a punishing
schedule at the moment with not
too many days off – how do you
stay sane on tour?
“I don't know that we do, but we
manage. We've all known each
other for so long that getting along
comes naturally and we all have
some sense of giving each other
space because otherwise touring is
like a month of non-stop socialising
ten
which is strange. Boredom and
short attention spans are generally
our main foibles. It’s imperative
that we keep ourselves excited by
what we're doing, and we'll do
whatever is necessary to achieve
that.”
Do you feel that the wait for your
proper full-length début LP has
been beneficial?
“I feel that throughout
touring the EP, we were
building a solid fan
base from our live
shows. Not on publicity
or anything. And those
are the kind of fans that
will stick by you even if
it takes a long time to
make your next record.
And we didn't want to
let people down with a
rushed effort. And now
that it's out, the
response has been
great and we're
continuing to play
shows that we're really
proud of.”
What ideas did you have for the
album prior to recording, and were
these fully realised?
“Because we were touring so
much, we didn't really have time to
stop and really think about our
record before we first started
recording. We spent a few weeks
in the studio during September
2007 of last year and came out with
a record that wasn't going where
we wanted it to.”
How did you progress from there?
“The day after we came out of the
studio we played two big shows
with Bloc Party. And I think it
occurred to us right there and then
that we wanted to make a record
that represented us as an energetic
live band. We wanted to make a
record without a filler-track and
where every song could potentially
be someone's favourite Tokyo
Police Club song. So after we
spent October 2007 touring, we
halted the gears and went into a
rehearsal space in Toronto and all
of sudden had a burst of creativity
and wrote eight songs in two
weeks. And then in December last
year we recorded it in Toronto. And
we couldn't be happier with our
record.”
And finally Graham, [keyboardist] I
hear you're reviewing the
bathrooms you frequent during the
tour via a blog, what do you
consider the essentials to an
enjoyable bathroom visit?
How have the new tracks translated
into the live set?
Tokyo Police Club tour the UK now.
“The songs from this record seem
to fit in really well with the old
songs we have. When we were
writing the new stuff we were aware
of our live strengths and I think it
It seems American heritage
remains at the dark heart of Be
Your Own PET. Despite the album's
pulsating anger and disgust for
some aspects of American life,
underground US cinema has
proved a major influence on the
band. Russ Meyer flicks, the classic
zombie films of George A. Romero,
and even the techno-epic Robocop
were raided for musical inspiration
says Nathan Vasquez.
comes across. Plus we have lights
now! We've been considering
covering 'First We Take Manhattan'
by Leonard Cohen. Because he is
great, Canadian, and I would get to
say, "first we take Manhattan" and
then Graham would play that epic
string thing and then maybe we'd
all shout, "then we take Berlin!". But
we then we realised how long that
song is and how weird the
arrangements are and we're
thinking we might try something
else first…”
“I'm not picky about bathrooms, I'm
really not. All I ask for is a
moderately clean room where the
pipes are attached and the door
closes most of the way. This is
surprisingly hard to find in America,
but perhaps I can make a
difference in my own small way.
You might say that I'm a real life
hero.”
Words: Simon Smallbone
www.tokyopoliceclub.com
As if they weren’t busy enough
offending everyone in sight with
their current band, the three male
members have two side projects
between them; Turbo Fruits who
are working on the follow up to their
debut, due out early next year once
BYOP have completed their
extensive and not doubt destructive
world tour, while Nathan’s Deluxin
project sells “a ridiculous amount of
records on the BYOP tour”. So
does Jemina have any plans for a
‘side project’ of her own?
So much
good stuff,
but you get
these
rooms full
of suits
and...I don’t
“To shove
know.
It’s aawad of
fireworks up their ass
and light them on fire!”
bit sad
what they
don’t get to
hear
"I love films, and I like to take my
favourite movies and relate lines or
scenes from them to things that
have happened in my life".
Having listened to the second Be
Your Own PET album, the following
feelings may occur: your ears will
hurt, like someone has tried to ram
a telescope through one to see out
the other side, and failed. Second,
pure aggression will course through
your nervous system, willing you to
act upon it and cause serious
damage to anything and anyone
within reach. Finally, it will be
infinitely clear that the band in
question have absolutely no
intention of following the unwritten
musical rule of 'moving on'. Equally
irreverent, equally loud, and equally
as brilliant as their debut, the band
appear set on distilling punk rock
back to its base, and in doing so,
ruffling industry feathers along the
way.
killing, and being pretty damn
amused by the whole thing. What
does front-woman Jemina Pearl
make of that?
Thankfully, XL are without said
poles, meaning we get the
complete uncut version. Get
Awkward-gate has not dampened
the band's patriotic spirit however.
This is evident in the band’s recent
dalliance with homemade cinema.
Three video blogs featuring the
band before, during and after a
show at a roller-derby in a variety
of spoof comi-violent sketches can
be seen on their Myspace, with
drummer John in a star turn as a
lovelorn teen in episode two. While
getting beaten by roller-derby girls
and getting high on “’shrooms“, it’s
clear these four punk kids are, in
their own words, “chombo-ing as
hard as (they) can”. This is
perhaps why the cover art for ‘Get
Awkward’ features the four band
members clutching items from their
childhood; a personal touch from a
band doing things on their own
terms.
For the US release of 'Get
Awkward' three tracks were
censored by Universal, including
the outstanding 'Becky' and 'Black
Hole', which contain tongue-incheek lyrics about violence and
"America! Fuck yeah! America is
home, and as you all know, home
is always better and more
comfortable. We play house parties
and small venues all the time back
home in Nashville, mostly with our
“Yeah, they’re things we’ve had for
a long time. The telephone was the
phone I had as a kid that my
parents almost threw away. I had to
save it from the trash! I wanted to
make the album look like some of
"IT FUCKING BLOWS!"
she says. "I've no idea
why it's all happened
either ‘cos I'm not an
old rich white dude with
a huge pole up his
ass."
my favourite punk album covers.
Real set-up shots like ‘The
Incredible Shrinking Dickies’ and XRay Spex’s ‘Germ Free
Adolescents’.” says Jemina.
“I had a band with my ex-boyfriend,
but I quit when we broke up. It was
called Cheap Time and we had one
7 inch together. I would love to
have an all girl band one day, but
it’s hard to find a girl drummer.”
So there you go. The advert’s
there; any female or perhaps
particularly effeminate male
drummers interested in lie-ins, late
nights and making outstanding DIY
punk records while sharing a tour
bus with Jemina, email your details
and we’ll pass them on. The
mission statement?
Words: Andy Porter
www.beyourownpet.net
‘Get Awkward’ is out now on XL. Be
Your Own PET play Reading and
Leeds festivals in August.
eleven
LOS
_CAMPESINOS
fleet foxes
Seattle, WA, a boom-and-bust city
built on lumber and ship building
and technology companies. It’s the
birth place of Jimi Hendrix. In World
War II it was a key port of
departure for troops heading to the
Pacific and in the 1990s became
the coffee capital of the world.
Come 1991, Seattle was rock
Valhalla, apparently something to
do with the success of Sub Pop
and a certain scruffy three-piece
called Nirvana. Kurt and Co. shared
a roster with Earth, Mudhoney and
Screaming Tress and in 2008, Sub
Pop’s line-up is arguably even
stronger than it was in its heyday.
Just look at this list: No Age, Pissed
Jeans, Foals, The Go! Team, The
Shins and the absolute stars of this
year’s SXSW, Fleet Foxes. Signed
in the US to their hometown’s most
famous label, and part of the
exquisite Bella Union in Europe,
they fit in perfectly alongside the
likes of Stephanie Dosen, Midlake
and The Kissaway Trail.
Why the history lesson? Well,
because Fleet Foxes are timeless.
The only thing that could stop them
from existing at any point in
Seattle’s history is the electricity
needed for their recording
equipment, mics and some of their
guitars. So universal is their sound
that it seems like it’s destiny,
coincidence or some other force
placing them at the forefront of the
city’s current renaissance alongside
the Tillman brothers, Zach and J,
Tiny Vipers and The Cave Singers.
Seattle has mellowed since the
plaid clad chaos of the grunge
explosion. Less mud, more honey.
twelve
It’s unsurprising really, when you
take a look at the five-piece’s
influences, says singer Robin
Pecknold.
“We grew up listening
to the music of our
parents,” Robin notes.
“The Beach Boys,
Simon & Garfunkel,
The Zombies, Joni
Mitchell, Fairport
Convention, Love,
Marvin Gaye, Crosby
Stills & Nash, Bob
Dylan, Buffalo
Springfield, and every
other perennial ‘60s
band you’d expect to
find in the record
collections of baby
boomers. One of us is
named after a Steely
Dan record, for Christ’s
sake.” We’ll leave it for
you to spot which one
of Nicholas Peterson,
Skyler Skjelset,
Christian Wargo and
Casey Wescott it is.
The sun-kissed Californian pop
touches and the nods to Dylan and
‘60s folk music stand out, but then
there’s also the undeniable
influence of gospel and hymns
(‘White Winter Hymnal’), the blues
of the 1930s (‘Sun It Rises’, ‘Tiger
Mountain Peasant Song’) and the
type of gorgeous harmonies last
heard on Yeasayer’s ‘All Hour
Cymbals’. Their music even feels
like it comes from before the
Renaissance on some songs, such
as ‘Meadowlarks’ and ‘English
House’ or ‘Mykonos’ on their ‘Sun
Giant’ EP. The art work of ‘Fleet
Foxes’ –depicting a chaotic
European village in the 1500s with
its monks, manure and madmen –
is hardly Daft Punk either.
It’s a record that appeals to the
simplest emotions but is in fact a
very complex composition, with a
small orchestra’s worth of
instruments on each song. “We’ve
succeeded for ourselves if we’ve
made a song where every
instrument is doing something
interesting and melodic”, says
Pecknold. “We try to draw from the
traditions of folk music, pop,
baroque psychedelic, sacred harp
singing, West Coast music,
traditional music from Ireland to
Japan, and are inspired by the
music of our friends and
contemporaries in the Seattle
music family.”
When all of Fleet Foxes sing
together it’s even more staggering
than Pecknold on his own.
“We aim to be
adventurous and true to
ourselves and to enjoy
our time together. The
music we make is a
reflection of our
instincts. To me, the
most enjoyable thing in
the world is to sing
harmony with people,
so we do that a bunch”
, he says.
Los Campesinos got
together at Cardiff
University, bonding
over alternative nightlife
and obscure rock’n’roll.
Within months of
forming, they were
supporting Broken
Social Scene and were
the subject of a webfuelled bidding war.
Intent on finishing their
degrees before
succumbing to rock
excess, the Los
Campesinos locomotive
is now gathering speed
across America. HV
spoke to frontman
Gareth to find out if
plans for a theme park
have been drawn up
yet.
HV: Have things slowed down
since the release of ‘Hold On Now,
Youngster’?
GC: “Well, the tour schedule that
we’ve got lined up at the moment is
going to be hard. The album only
just came out in America so we’ve
got a month-long tour all over the
United States and Canada and All
Tomorrow’s Parties festival. If
anything, I think things are going
better in North America than they
are here. The bands that we draw
influence from and get compared to
are generally American, and we’ve
already played sold out New York
shows so things are very exciting.”
There’s a song on the album about
being a punter at ATP. Does life
imitate art or is it the other way
round?
“It’s probably life imitating art
imitating life. We’ve been to the All
Tomorrows Parties festivals for a
couple of years and that song is a
65% true story about when we
went for the first time, so it’s really
surreal to be playing there. When
we formed the band we got carried
away with ourselves, and said that
one day we’d get to play... “
It used to be the case that Top Of
The Pops or Glastonbury were the
signs of true success.
“Yeah, but ATP has that exciting
element to it in that they don’t just
get the same bands that are
playing everywhere. Across the
summer there’ll be a festival every
weekend and they all have a
similar line-up.”
If you were curating, who would
you have on the bill?
“Personally, I’d have…(pauses)
See, I’m pretending I have to think
about it but it’s pretty much the only
thing I do think about. Xiu Xiu
would be up there, and lots of Riot
Grrrl things. I wish I’d been around
and been old enough to appreciate
the Riot Grrrl movement as it
happened. I’d also like to get
bands to reform. We’d go for a Life
Without Buildings reformation, a
Prolapse reformation… We’d
submit huge long lists to ATP and
they’d just tell us “no way”.”
Why Riot Grrrl?
“It was a really positive, exciting
movement which sought to take
away from the whole 1993 grunge
scene where bands like Nirvana
and Alice In Chains made boring,
dreary, male music. Bikini Kill,
Huggy Bear and bands of that ilk
proved that women were just as
capable of making music and that
didn’t sit very comfortably with a lot
of people. There’s a compilation
called ‘Singles’ from Bikini Kill
which is pretty accessible. It’s
more polished, and was produced
by the guy who mixed our album,
John Goodmanson.”
Los Campesinos is Spanish for “the
peasants”. Are you a politicallymotivated band?
“We want to be more than just a
band that records music; we want
to interact with fans, letting them
know what we like and doing
covers of things that we hope will
inspire our fans to seek out music
that they may not normally get to
hear.”
Tell me about the covers on ‘My
Year In Lists’.
“The new single is one minute and
forty nine seconds long, and the
three B-sides add up to one
minute, forty nine seconds; a Bikini
Kill song, a Casiotone song and a
Deerhoof song. It’s really self
indulgent, covering songs that we
love by bands that we love, but a
lot of people who like our band
have found us through the NME or
something, so hopefully it’s exciting
for them if they haven’t heard Bikini
Kill before. We’ve covered
Pavement and we’ve covered
Heavenly and if people hear our
versions and like them, hopefully
they’ll listen to those bands and
realise how much better they are!”
So, if I wasn’t listening to ‘My Year
In Lists’, what would be the second
best thing to do with one minute
and forty nine seconds?
“Brush you teeth. Oral hygiene is a
must, and you’ll feel a lot more
comfortable if you’ve freshened up.
In fact, why not brush your teeth
while you listen to ‘My Year In
Lists’? It’s a motivational teethcleaning soundtrack.”
Words: Megan Vaughan
www.loscampesinos.com
Los Campesinos play Glastonbury,
T in the Park, Oxegen and at
Manchester’s ‘A Day at the Races’
this summer.
The first five songs on their
wonderful self-titled debut, as well
as those on the ‘Sun Giant’ EP, are
the sort of songs you can live in for
weeks. There are so many
subtleties; arrangements that you
don’t pick up first time, melodies
and harmonies that slip past
undetected until you become used
to its dream like state. Pecknold
hears something else in it too: “This
record is like our first steps and,
like any newborn, we made
mistakes and discoveries and in the
process better found out who we
are. That is what the record
represents to me when I hear it
now – the process we went through
to find ourselves the first time.”
Any time, any place; Fleet Foxes
are bliss.
Words: Stephen Eddie
www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes
The album ‘Fleet Foxes’ is out now
on Bella Union.
thirteen
LADYTRON_
SPEEDING_
UP
"We still feel like we're a new
band…looking back and listening to
our first records, it takes a while to
realise that it's been eight years since
we did that. It feels like we've been
around a lot less than we have
been."
As though in a waking dream where
Larry T is influential and Freezepop
are credible, Reuben Wu is getting
all nostalgic on us. This time next
year he and his bandmates Danny
Hunt, Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo
will have been testing the dynamic of
electronic pop for a decade. Ladytron
were there at the start of the 00s
fascination with the synthetic style,
and they're here now having endured
its highs and lows. By the time you're
reading this they'll be half way
through a thirty date trek across
fourteen
America on an international tour that
won't stop until October. Could they
have imagined this back in 1999?
"No, we never had any expectations
at all," Reuben admits. "I'm happy
with where we are though; we get to
play all these amazing places that
other bands don’t like China,
Columbia and Brazil. And yet we've
retained quite an underground
following."
Strangely enough it's true and no
more so than here in the UK. Every
visit from Ladytron to Manchester is a
sold out but modestly-sized date –
a fact emphasising our enthusiasm
for their cold New Wave but also
underlying the scale of their success;
"It's only in the UK that we're playing
small venues; everywhere else we're
in three thousand capacity arenas.
We're much bigger outside of the UK,
especially in the States where people
really have a connection with us. It's
a great place to play gigs, being so
big that people will travel for days to
get to venues. We sold out this huge
place in Mexico City and we don't
even have any kind of distribution
there whatsoever."
Exactly what Mexicans identify with in
Ladytron is unclear, but they've
always been right up our street with
the industrialised, brutal confidence
of their records, streamlined by their
twin ice maiden frontline. In the
beginning they shaped the minimal
electropop sound of 2000 before
recently moving to veteran Canadian
imprint Nettwerk, home to such
electronic innovators like Skinny
Puppy and BT. Given their
transatlantic base, the move made
sense marked by best-yet third
album, Witching Hour. "It was a bit
of a milestone record for us," says
Reuben, "like a converging point
between our touring career and our
studio career. Now we've used that
as a bit of a foundation, like a
springboard for the new album
and I think there's a considerable
improvement in its production."
So much is the change that you'd
hardly recognise them from their
pre-2003 carnation, and not only
in sound. Since their early days as
robotic-mannequins on the forefront
of electroclash fashion (albeit
indirectly), the look of Ladytron has
significantly darkened. The music has
followed suit, songs moving from the
subject of playgirls and blue jeans to
ghosts and nervous tension.
"As people we've always been into
dark music," explains Wu. "There's a
lot more soul in sad songs than
happy songs. This album is definitely
more aggressive and that’s part of us
pushing the sound, wanting it to be
punchier and more immediate than
the last one."
The result is a proactive, hyperstylised shadiness cooler than
The Matrix Trilogy. But steady
development has been the course
of things, something owing to an
insatiable drive for this "more" of
everything that Reuben constantly
goes on about; "We realised that
we've starting seeing and hearing
our music in a different way, thinking
about it in terms of how it will be
played live, so we started writing
music in that dimension. Witching
Hour was a lot more powerful, richer
and more wide-ranging in sounds
and we've only made it stronger
for Velocifero."
Velocifero is the title of Ladytron's
fourth long-player, definable as 'the
bringer of speed'. "Literally," Reuben
interrupts, "although it's nothing to do
with drugs. I'm not a Speed kind of
guy. It's just a nice word – it's also the
name of an Italian scooter and a
really primitive version of the bicycle."
Life in this globetrotting group must
be turbulent to say the least. Last
year, for instance, was mostly spent
touring Europe with the
aforementioned Nine Inch Nails,
before having a single day off and
jetting out to Paris to start on the new
LP. Why the hip-capital of crossover
dance? To rendezvous with one of
the Ed Banger label's best; "We met
Vicarious Bliss after he submitted
remixes of our stuff which we were
really into, so we went to work with
him in Paris whilst Alessandro Cortini
was working on stuff we sent to him
in LA. This is actually the first album
we've produced ourselves though.
Instead of working with a producer,
we've asked for musicians to come
up with pieces to add to the tracks.
We're very hands on and we've been
more the architect of our own album
really."
Big and boastful in its militaristic
sound, you're never quite sure
whether what they've made is a rock
album or an electronic one. Either
way the pull of a robust song
beneath it has only got stronger, and
as impressive as the volume of 'I'm
Not Scared' or the boldness of
'Predict The Day' is, there's no
undermining of substance. "It fits
together more as an album," agrees
Reuben. "The writing for this record
was quite straightforward this time
around. We'd write apart in our spare
time and when it came to production
we'd work on each other's tracks.
I mean, we've always liked albums in
the truest sense, but here each track
has its own identity and there's no
repetition in attitude. There're no
missing pieces and not too many."
Out this month, the time has come
to take the Velocifero to the world.
Starting in the town where it all
began, Reuben's been making the
most of home's comforts; "I've been
at home all the time lately," he
laughs, "sat on the sofa for days on
end, watching The Hits TV and
relaxing." The break is a welldeserved but rare one. When not
touring or writing with the band,
Reuben and Danny are nurturing
their local scene, having co-founded
essential clubnight Evol in 2003. The
amount that Ladytron have done for
their music community is not to be
understated. "At the time there was
definitely a hole which needed filling
in Liverpool," recounts Wu. "There
were clubs and bars playing indie
music, but it was just Stone Roses,
Chemical Brothers, typical stuff.
We wanted a particular type of band
– more new wave, gothier, grittier
stuff that people might not expect in
a club. We got in some great DJs
who hadn’t played Liverpool before,
and obviously we put on Arctic
Monkeys before they were big."
Not before High Voltage booked
them we might note, but nevertheless
Evol has become one of the finest
new music institutions in the UK,
and is pretty much synonymous with
a good night out in Liverpool at
Korova, the bar part-owned by the
Ladytron men. Reuben might not
have much to do with business when
on the road with the band, but what
he helped start now brings the most
exciting indie/electro to a home for
the city's most discerning drinkers.
Having hosted giants like Vitalic and
CSS in the last year, what's been the
key to a successful clubnight?
"It really is down to a good
combination of good programming,
good music when you're DJing and
how cool the venue is. If one of those
factors is missing then you don’t get
the chemistry happening."
The Toxteth lad remains Liverpoolbased, but nine years ago when the
Glaswegian Helen and Sofian Mira
joined the local boys, they were
hardly a Liverpudlian band in the
most common sense. Did the four
feel up against to begin with? "Not
really, no," shrugs the synths-man.
"When we started there was no real
scene for our kind of music, but over
the years it grew to be more
acceptable. Using keyboards and
electronic music in bands just
became more and more common.
Now it's just another part of any indie
band. People don’t see you playing
a synthesiser and assume you like
Kraftwerk or The Human League."
Given the saturation of bands taking
in these influences, is that
necessarily a good thing? "Yeah
definitely, because when we started
off people were obsessing about the
instruments we were using and
compared us to bands that really
didn’t have much of an affiliation with
us. We might like Kraftwerk and The
Human League, but we weren't a
tribute band." He laughs, "I think
we've passed that stage now."
Yeah, just a bit. But even if in another
ten years time the four are still
playing Academy 3, you can bet their
tenth album will still be pushing limits.
And who knows? Maybe the rest of
the country will have caught on by
then.
Words: Fran Donnelly
www.ladytron.co.uk
Album Velocifero is out June 2nd on
Nettwerk
fifteen
singles
Mirror Mirror – Wolfgang
Bang (Holy Roar)
Single of the month
Hercules & Love Affair –
You Belong (DFA)
Queer New York hipsters
Hercules & Love Affair soup-up
their disco with an almost bynumbers homage to Inner
City's era-defining party house
anthems. The band's Nomi
takes on main vocal duties for
this one with a warm, laidback
and soulful performance
backed by Antony Hegarty's
warble, sounding bizarrely
appropriate in this upbeat
guise.
The overall effect of 'You
Belong' is that of the slice of
The Starfighter Pilot –
Kingdom Hearts EP
(14 Sandwiches)
Full of the kind of Casio-driven,
electro-pop shuffles and subversive
word play that has drawn plenty of
Beck-of-the-north comparisons,
'Kingdom Hearts' following last year's
'Alkaline Maisonette' (earning the full
five HV marks) contains more of the
same sounds that have made Martin
Bryant, The Star Fighter Pilot, a
regular face on Manchester stages.
Opening with the vaguely sinister
sounding 'My Little Test Case', its
ringtone production, whined dark
verses and twisted melody will find a
place in the hearts of some,
elsewhere the comparatively lighter in
mood - though no-less lyrically jaded
with its "I don't want to write a song
about love 'cause I'm sure it's all been
done before" - recalls the deft touch of
now. Ladies and Gentlemen, The
Brightlights.
Grimsby. Not a place that immediately
strikes you as a hotbed of musical
talent. Or a hotbed of anything recently.
Legend claims that Grimsby was
founded by a Danish fisherman called
'Grim'. Bernie Taupin thought enough of
the town to write a song about it for
Elton John's 1974 album 'Caribou'. And
that was pretty much it for Grimsby. Until
The Brightlights are produced by Steve
Power, once of Robbie Williams fame,
and have supported The Hoosiers, but
try not to hold any of that too tightly
against them. Pounding drums and
trad-indie riffs are offset by the
compelling voice of frontman Leon
Blanchard who growls like an unholy
union between Caleb Followhill, Kelly
Jones and Rod Stewart.
This enchantingly vaudevillian
Alphabeat-esque pop track is
magnificently oddball, not really
making much sense but lighting a
hook that fascinates in the same way
eagerly anticipated eight-piece
live show is going to be some
party.
Young Knives do, though solitarily
more leftfield.
It's reminiscent of a madcap stage
version of a Tom and Jerry cartoon,
brilliantly slumping around a basic and
catchy verse that wafts apart before a
considerable choral elation. It's a
dizzying song that in the best of ways
doesn't really fit into archetypal song
There are short-lived moments of
hygienic experimentation, but it's all
been done before, and better, leaving
this a senseless song that looks at
others for inspiration without actually
committing to a sound of its own.
Banging guitars aside, there's so little to
get your teeth into on this you'll really not
want to give it more than one spin out of
pure, morbid, curiosity
Alex Lee Thomson
Fran Donnelly
Liam Finn – Second
Chance (Transgressive)
For me the best thing to come
from DFA's latest discerning
acquisition reaches old skool
perfection, but I know there are
enough favourites on the album
to cause disagreement. Either
way, Hercules & Love Affair's
The Brightlights - 3
(Distiller)
Barringtone – Snake In
The Grass
(This Is Music)
sixteen
diva relief between every three
acid jacks at a Chicago gay
club in 1987. Not a pastiche
but a lovely, slick mix of
cowbells and 909 claps in the
tradition of Todd Terry, Crystal
Waters and Joe Smooth's
'Promised Land'. I've a mind to
go and buy a flat in The
Hacienda just so this gets its
rightful play within its walls.
Slightly nauseating and absent of any
imagination, this pastiche of Hadouken,
Foals and everybody else with a
synthesiser has tried to show some
maturity, though lacking any kind of
melody they have only given us
grounds to hate the 80s revival.
When you hear the words scruffylooking, bearded New Zealander what
immediately springs to mind? That's
right, it's that overbearing, unhealthily
hyperactive tool from Radio 1.
Thankfully he hasn't released another
record. Though with any luck he'll be
dedicating some hardcore airplay to
Liam Finn.
80s synth-pop producers.
Though blessed with the cut-andpaste home studio skills to make any
of his peers envious, Bryant's retreading of the same cynical lyrical
couplets soon becomes a little
monotonous.
Mike Caulfield
The Kills – The Last
Days of Magic (Domino)
It's getting harder and harder to buy into
the on-stage tempestuous sexual
tension painted by Jamie Hince and
cohort Alison Mosshart with each
passing redtop column inch connecting
the leather-clad six-stringed frontman
with Britain's premier pouter.
And yet despite the duo's scuzzy lo-fi
In a world where Liam Fray is lauded as
some sort of musical visionary, The
Brightlights have a bright future indeed.
They are all the things the Courteeners
should be; charming, blessed with a
tune and just rough enough around the
edges for a little credibility as well.
Jaymay - Ill Willed
Person (Blue Note)
This new Jaymay single draws
another shufti at our stunning poet's
house of brightness, and though this
isn't her most arresting melody it's
nevertheless a brilliant service to
nostalgia and grassroots Americana
Like the Zipper, Finn has been resident
in London town for many years
stealthily gaining a reputation on the
capital's circuit. He swears by his DIY
ethic, overseeing everything from
writing to publicity photos and seems
determined to be anything but 'another
guy with a guitar'.
urgent record that creeps up on you
before clattering into the kind of killer
chorus that the summer yearns for. On
this evidence Liam Finn won't be
needing a second chance (groan).
Chris Horner
And the hard work has certainly paid
off. His debut single falls somewhere
nicely between label-mates Iron and
Wine and The Shins. It's a gentle yet
Royal Trux affected noise evolving very
little since their debut EP 'Black Rooster'
some six years ago, the pair's dark
chemistry and unparalleled (though
aging fast) cool still keep them
interesting as recent album 'Midnight
Boom' proved.
But 'Last Days of Magic' in all fairness
could have been derived from any of
one their three long players, Hince's
measured staccato sparks and blues-
folk, perverse with a willowy anger.
Fractionally Regina Spektor, partly a
Soko salute to Joan Biaz, Jaymay's wit
in lyric and simplicity in instrumentation
makes this a song which feels
sincerely timeless and rewarding. It's
always an ordeal not to fall in love with
her voice and that's never as true an
fuzz riffs when coupled with Alison's
snarled vocals are still the soundtrack to
the decadent party you'd never be
invited too.
Though as with any good OTT party,
you'll struggle to remember it not long
after it's ended.
Mike Caulfield
avowal as on this remarkable rocket of
a single which justly lives up to her
character.
Alex Lee Thomson
Chris Horner
formulae, instead being an eccentric
salute to the none-song, the antichorus and the fantastic; done with
awesome talent.
Alex Lee Thomson
Pin Me Down – Cryptic
(Kitsuné)
Pin Me Down is the dancy venture
that is that Bloc Party pansy Russell
Lissack teamed up with the stunning
Milena Mepris. Never mind that
though, cos there's no ignoring the
fact that 'Cryptic' is just a top,
turbulent pop song with the ultra
slick production of a 1995-1998
chart obscurity being performed on
TOTP.
This is the sound of the oomphplodding, guitar winding style of
Lissack's other band being spruced
up to become the indie-schmindie,
Kitsuné-fied Girls Aloud. It's as
unoriginal and fucking brilliant as
that sounds too, like coming across
'She's Hearing Voices' or 'Biology'
for the first time. It's also ace by
virtue that it's not Kele Okereke
marding it up.
A typically massive remix from
Phones ups the indie-disco cred
whilst it's an enduring credit to the
original that you can sit through five
versions of it and still be bobbing
around to its irresistibility. "A little
bit… cryyyyptic…"
Fran Donnelly
seventeen
albums
Album of the month
The Presets –
Apocalypso
(Modular)
Spiritualized –
Songs In A&E
(Universal /
Spaceman)
Hot Club De Paris
– Live At Deadlake
(Moshi Moshi)
eighteen
A musical enigma, Spiritualized's
Jason Pierce crafted the majority
of Songs in A&E before suffering
double pneumonia and lying
unconscious in hospital for two
weeks, at one point weighing just
six stone. It's a touching,
outstanding record, detailing
Pierce's fragile state before and
after his illness, with remarkable
results. Songs in A&E is the best
Spiritualized record for a decade.
respiratory unit, and the lyrics "I'll
take every way out I can find"
reference not only himself but the
loss of close friend Richie Lee
from Californian droners Acetone
in 2001. 'Soul on Fire' is an
instant, classic Spiritualized
single; its majestic strings and
delicate acoustic strums
brimming with melody and
sunshine.
The gorgeous 'Sweet Talk' opens
with Spiritualized mainstays;
delicate brass, gospel vocals,
cute bass and piano. Pierce's
vocals are typically doe-eyed and
frail, but it's a soaring opening.
The ominously titled 'Death Take
Your Fiddle' features breathing
samples from Pierce's hospital
'Sitting On Fire' is perhaps A&E's
masterpiece, Pierce's voice
weary and childlike. When he
sings "I can't even hold what I
own" it's impossible not to be
moved by such stark fragility.
Elsewhere, Pierce's love of the
Velvets is revisited with the
jangly 'Baby I'm Just A Fool' and
the recurring 'Harmony' pieces
Irrepressible and yet often
overlooked, Hot Club De Paris
spend the first half of their
second record sounding as
though the trio are hard-wired
into one another's instinct for
skinny, rhythmic romping as they
move across songs seamlessly.
ever, 'Boy Awaits Return Of The
Runaway Girl' has a maturer
restraint. Similarly, 'The Anchor's
pummelling crescendos present
something new entirely, whilst
album backender 'This Thing Is
Forever' is a simple sure-fire live
anthem.
Their original punk-pop cluster
bomb hasn't changed so much
as it has scattered, the band
swaying from track-to-track with
games of tension and elastic
potential. It's all kept in line by
utmost simplicity – there's
nothing more than three lads in a
room here working out ditties
with tight precision, but where
single 'Hey Housebrick!' sounds
breezier and more youthful than
At the time of 2006 debut Drop It
Til It Pops, Hot Club De Paris
were the stripped down and
altogether more fun equivalent of
Larrikin Love, Mystery Jets or
even Los Campesinos!. Now
alongside fledgling Liverpool acts
like goFASTER>>, they're the old
heads of a new and upbeat
angular sound in the city. They're
really finding themselves here,
and with The Futureheads
show a band just as in tune with
Brian Eno as they are The
Stooges.
Musically, there's much to
admire. The jazz/garage fusions
of previous album Amazing
Grace are much more fully
formed here and like Pierce's
current body state, a lot stronger.
There's also a liveliness and
directness present, where
previous records were prone to
drift and over stretch themselves.
Great to have you back,
Spiritualized.
Alistair Beech
Black Devil Disco Club
– Eight Oh Eight (Lo)
making a comeback, this should
be a summer of experimental,
back-to-basics pop.
Hot Club are still their contagious
selves though and they've still
got a penchant for long winded
titles for devastatingly snappy
songs. But instead of an inhibited
backward step, Live At Deadlake
is a confident consolidation that
loses none of the boys' cheeky
charm.
Fran Donnelly
Laymar – In
Strange Lines And
Distances (TV)
While the cream of Australia's
current crop of electro pop acts
seem to be condensing the
country's sunshine onto vinyl,
The Presets are alchemists of
a darker sound. Not for them
the big summertime choruses
of Cut Copy, or the exuberant
funk of Bumblebeez and
Midnight Juggernauts. While
their countrymen (and women)
have been bringing the party
from down under to the rest of
the world, Julian Hamilton and
K.I.M. have been locked away
in their lair creating
Apocalypso, melding the dark
pop of Nine Inch Nails,
Depeche Mode and Joy
Division with the sort of drums
and 303 bass lines that make
your teeth rattle. At 4 in the
morning. In Berlin.
By day, Bernard Fevre and
Jacky Giordano are average
jobbers, making music for
production libraries. Who'd
suspect the duo are secretly a
mystical, cosmic disco force?
The brevity of Eight Oh Eight
however also means that it
doesn’t have much room to
manoeuvre in and despite the
range of sounds in BDDC's
vintage synth collection, there's
not a lot to engage you after
three or four tracks of it. You
suspect parts of these collages
have been reverberating
around their heads for the past
three decades, and this is the
overdue discharge of an
impulse still spinning around a
forgotten leftfield club.
At only six tracks and just over
half an hour, there are some
busy busy sounds making this
every bit the intergalactic
journey it should be. From
'With Honey Cream's
hysterical, wibble-wobble italo
assault, it's a claustrophobic
but never particularly
foreboding sound at a quick
pace. 'Free For The Girls' and
'Never No Dollars' are the
genuinely 80s highlights,
touching Moroder, Art Of Noise
and Arthur Baker.
A band truly tied-up in their own
symbiotic music, Manchester noise
architects Laymar have all the
consistency of quicksand. One night
they'll triumph with careful vacillation of
post-rock majesty whilst on others
they'll self-combust in ten minutes,
instruments laid to waste. This live
volatility need not apply here however
because given the chance to craft a
whole document of flux, the trio take to
the task impressively. There's no need
to be afraid, but don't get too
comfortable now.
Seamlessly drifting from the lonely
piano of 'Rec #4' into the meandering
restlessness of 'Circles And Squares',
'In Straight Lines…' begins with the
disturbed tenacity of Animal Collective
The album's first single 'My
People' sets the precedent for
the whole album; drums like
bullets, industrial chainsaw
synths and anthemic, nagging
choruses. 'This Boy's In Love'
is another early highlight, with
its falsetto vocals and gentle
piano melody a welcome
respite from all the relentless
macho beats. Ok, the beats
still pump away underneath it
all, but at least they loosened
up for a minute or two.
more like Calvin Harris than
quite a lot of Calvin Harris
songs do. Then it's straight
back to the omnipotent kick
drum.
A sprawling, multi-genre epic
this isn't, but if it's heavy, dark
techno-pop you're after, then
prepare to have this album on
repeat all summer.
Alex Barbanneau
'Yippiyo-Ay' also veers away
from the dark pounding
template into a strutting electro
funk jam, managing to sound
was more clairvoyant in its
electronic anticipation and with
the 00s resurgence in disco
fascination the timing seems
perfect. But like 2006's
comeback 28 After, this is a
consummate retrospection that
just doesn’t have much pull.
With DFA, Prins Thomas and
Italians Do It Better around
today, this can't compare to
contemporary innovators.
Fran Donnelly
The quirk of a band that
releases this, its third album in
thirty years doesn’t really need
to be stated. Too obscure in
1978 to count as influential,
their debut Disco Club album
and gets reduced to the industrial bits
and pieces of early Cabaret Voltaire.
'Nu1's ringing over its motorik beat
provides a shot of the band at their
most Dionysian, passive-aggressively
immediate.
Using samples, layering and colossal
guitars, it's like merging shades of
iLiKETRAiNS with some imaginary
remix album from the other side of
Radiohead's Amnesiac. It's a
monochrome psychedelia that
identifies as much with Battleship
Potemkin or Heart Of Darkness as it
does with Throbbing Gristle.
is a vastly impressive effort. Why preapocalyptic? Because listening to
Laymar feels as though the worst is
still to happen yet and in the meantime
you're teetering on the brink of
uncertainty. Wisely they don't outstay
their welcome, and a powerful alt.rock
album that's only forty-five minutes is
one reluctant to indulge. Mesmerising.
Fran Donnelly
Veering from the beautiful intensity of
'Juvenile Whole Life' to the preapocalyptic brooding of 'Swords', this
nineteen
2008
Legendary post-punk innovators Wire
are an excellent choice as one of the
headliners of Futuresonic. Few bands
have such a strong claim on having
significantly influenced the path of
popular music in this country over the
three decades.
Wire - Academy 2
It's difficult to imagine how the band
will sound now, over thirty years since
their seminal Pink Flag LP. When the
band takes to the stage frontman
Colin Newman looks a tad
embarrassed, smartly decked out in a
suit, expensive looking spectacles and
holding the now ubiquitous gleaming
white Macbook.
aware of the lacklustre sound. Things
pick up as the tempo gradually
increases through the set and at times
their incessant groove builds into a
thrilling cascade of white sound that
fills the room, but it's hard to escape
the feeling afterwards that the bleak,
atmospheric intensity they pioneered
doesn't ring true coming from a
middle-aged man with a laptop.
The gig-going life of the person who
saw this show passed away the
moment HEALTH kicked into their
thrilling drone-rock set. In fact it was
enough to erase all my misgivings
about Futuresonic Festival were it not
that we actually had promoters, Hey,
Manchester!, to thank for the capitals
on show tonight and festival
wristband-holders had to pay for entry
into Chinatown's kitsch-est karaoke
bar.
(AB)
HEALTH + Yacht Academy 2
The first songs start off slowly; nihilistic
dirges that seem to have lost their
intensity. Newman doesn't even seem
to want to face the crowd, seemingly
The term living legend is often
(mis)used with reckless
abandon, but when it comes to
the founding father of New York
rap legends the Wu Tang Clan,
it's justified. RZA, aka Bobby
Digital, is regarded as one of
the all time great producers, and
rightly so.
The RZA as Bobby
Digita Academy 2
He waltzes onstage traditionally
late clutching a bottle of fine red
wine, a sight not usually
associated with Hip Hop gigs.
After some initial technical
difficulties, during which the
reputation of the soundman's
mother is called into question by
The RZA, he causes the room
to explode by ripping into to
some of the Wu's anthems.
Despite some stellar headliners,
Futuresonic Festival in its thirteenth
year struggled from a lack of cohesion
and most disappointingly, anything
Mancunian.
Audience numbers for Thursday
night's gig at the new Trof were paltry;
the lack of interest was symptomatic
of the festival's failure to catch the
imagination of Manchester and I was
left with the feeling that this was the
festival which celebrated itself.
Felix Kubin +
Zombie Zombie The Deaf Institute
twenty
"Do you like nightclubbing? Do you
like Iggy Pop? This is a cover of Iggy
Pop's 'Nightclubbing'". This
unforgettably bad intro to Zombie
Zombie's final track tonight is about as
exciting as it gets. The duo's krautrock
sounded rather like Dan Deacon's
He may not be the strongest MC
in the world, but his beats speak
for themselves. As the opening
synth wail of '4th Chamber'
blares out across the Academy,
hundreds of hands raise the Wu
sign into the air. Tributes are
paid to deceased legend Ol'
Dirty Bastard and unintelligible
Shaolin slang is distributed, lots
of wine is consumed, and then
all too quickly it's over, The RZA
and crew disappearing in a haze
of weed smoke.
Though ushered into the public's heart
just as all things acoustic - preferably
attached to some excessive facial hair
- were being tarred with the
freak/nu/whatever folk tag, Sam
Beam's slowly expanding collective
Iron & Wine's delicate picking and
softy softy approach has always had
more in common with the denim-clad
70s California crowd.
Iron & Wine The Ritz
(AB)
superb 'Crystal Cat', but with all the
fun and invention sucked out of it.
Thank god for Hamburg's electronic
muse Felix Kubin, who, flitting
excitably between keyboard and
sequencer, introduces some muchneeded energy, melodies and good
humour. As he ripped into a song
about eliminating Donald Duck from
one of his dreams with a backdrop of
loopy electronica, you wonder what
the stone-faced skinhead bouncer at
the side of the bar made of this
fantastic Kraftwerk-like buffoonery.
(SS)
Jona Bechtolt project, YACHT serve
up some electronic-pop fun and revel
in less than subtly taking the piss out
of the nerdy and less co-ordinated
elements of the crowd and generally
deliver good value. But the night
belonged to HEALTH's melancholic
noise rock. Set to a backdrop of
Just as the classic singer/songwriter
vanguard were more than happy to
stretch much loved songs out to
tedious levels of inspired jamming sometimes of the 'cosmic' variety - it
would seem Beam's also arrived at
this point in his career too, though
luckily it's his mastery of the lost art of
subtlety that keeps boredom from
setting in.
Having earlier celebrated the
release of album number three
This Is Not The World with a
riotous HMV performance, any
signs of fatigue from the
Sunderland four-piece would be
hard to detect from the way they
strike into songs old and new.
The Futureheads Academy 2
Opening with the familiar rush of
'Decent Days and Nights', the
quartet's frantic bursts of chords
and barbershop vocal
harmonies - though copied
many times over by groups with
half their skill - are still as
intoxicating as you first
remember them to be. Fears
that they may have peaked too
soon are happily dismissed as
runs of 'Skip To The End',
incessant and rare drumming skills,
HEALTH's other members, sparking
off one another's energy; chaotically
and brilliantly flail around the stage
between drum pad, guitar pedal and
sequencer.
Thanks to No Age's well-received new
album and HEALTH's stunning
liveshows, the 'Smell' scene, wafting
out of LA, is finally beginning to get the
plaudits it deserves. See this band
post-haste.
(SS)
Alex Barbanneau & Simon Smallbone
First appearing with the stripped down,
aching epic 'The Trapeze Swinger'
accompanied by sister Sarah, the
quiet command and reverence held
by the Ritz audience is spoilt only by
the buzz of an overworked extractor
fan.
Soon accompanied by his sprawling
band, they quickly set upon reimagining the tracks from his back
catalogue, 'Boy With a Coin', 'Peace
Beneath The City', 'Wolves (Song of
the Shepard's Dog)' and 'Our Endless
Numbered Days' all given the laidback Cali-sound make over, as
accents are shifted (beats that is),
drenched in reverb, and stretched
almost beyond recognition.
'Meantime', 'Carnival Kids', and
'Area', as well as newer material
'Radio Heart', 'The Beginning Of
The End', and 'Broke Up The
Time' confidently proves.
But it's the group's down-toearth, good humoured charms
and distinctive shared
harmonies that place them
beyond all late-coming copyists,
as witnessing a full room oh oh
oh-ing along instinctively to
each song shows. Though
despite the many jewels in their
post-punk crown, it's still the
festival 4am drunken chanting of
Kate Bush's 'Hounds Of Love'
that gets the loudest reception
tonight (as it likely will for the
rest of the band's career),
Whilst some attendees' attention
spans soon give up and slip off to the
bar, the wilfully indulgent Crazy Horseesque guitar passage and heartstring
tugging stacked vocal harmonies
clearly suit Beam's sepia-tinted view.
Mike Caulfield
played with an urgency and
dynamism that suggests even
they are yet to tire of it.
With a tight Bank Holiday curfew
to adhere to their barely past
the hour-mark set finishes a
little prematurely for some,
though any group would
struggle to keep at such pace
for much longer.
Mike Caulfield
twentyone
Say, Scientist
by The Maple State
OUT NOW
"faultless" - NME
"energetic, refreshing" 8/10 -
NEW NOISE
Send your new band tips to
GIG of the month
[email protected] to appear
in the next New Noise round-up…
Drowned in Sound
“Album of the week” - 9/10
Manchestermusic.co.uk
'For The Temperate Lives' released on
28th April via digital download
'Say Scientist' mini-LP out now
from all good record stores.
Cheap Hotel
Rochelle
Tubelord
Beat The
Radar
This Is
MyLawnmower
Few bands would dare tread
the tightrope of
pretentiousness that comes
with naming the likes of
German Expressionist flick
The Cabinet of Dr. Calligari
and transsexual rock
musical Hedwig and the
Angry Inch as influences,
but London-based trio
Cheap Hotel are not like
other bands.
Although this new
electronic assembly are
darker than the star gazing
indie poppers, it’s by being
less in the shade than
heavier bands such as
FlyKKiller that permit them
to render themselves so
fluidly onto mainstream
dancefloors.
Last summer, Kingston trio
Tubelord sounded like The
Blood Brothers fighting
angry bees in a small tin
can. Which was obviously
brilliant for a time, but Foalsgone-emo of ‘Propeller’ and
‘ArmsWatchesFingers’
(three choruses in search of
a verse) where noting
compared to what was to
come on March’s debut
seven inch, ‘Feed Me A Box
Of Words’ (Big Scary
Monsters).
With Meet Me In St. Louis
dearly departed and the
aforementioned Foals
needling their way into the
mainstream (a good thing),
it’s fallen upon Tubelord to
keep the home fires of
underground, fiddly whatwas-that-core burning. But if
‘Feed Me…’ is anything to
go by, they shouldn’t be
staying there for too long
either. The tight, crashing
beats and scrappy yelps
soon give way to something
a lot, lot bigger. Over the
last year they’ve gotten the
hang of writing the kind of
brilliant choruses that allow
Biffy Clyro to play main
stages.
This Lancastrian trio are still
looking for a drummer and
yet they've already played
this year's Hide & Seek
festival as well as student
romp Pangaea. They're
starting up on the rounds
with intent and if they can
deliver on their melodic
promise then we've
something interesting here.
When I first heard This Is
My Lawnmower’s demo
last year I made a cheap
jibe about how their name
was rubbish. But also, that
bands with silly names
(Arctic Monkeys, Jimmy
Eat World, QOTSA) tend
to make good records;
their priorities are
obviously in the right place:
on the tunes not the name,
the hair and being gobby
about bands that sound
exactly the same as you.
myspace.com/themaplestate
www.highvoltage.org.uk
www.myspace.com/highvoltageuk
Like a more severe,
though wonderfully gallant,
Forming in 2005 after
New Young Pony Club
sticksman Gregg Braden,
they have approachability
once described as playing
in melody that confronts a
like “a manic octopus on
wall of judicious beats with
speed”, answered an advert tenderness in vocal that
in the back of the ‘NME’
bounds it slightly into the
placed by fretless bassist Ulli territory of a remoulded
Mattsson and singer and
Madonna. It’s no wonder
guitar virtuoso Anna Calvi.
this band have been roped
in to front a remix of a
They have spent the last
year gigging with the likes of Britney Spears track as
Pigeon Detectives, Acoustic their record-jabbing
dissolve of dance and
Ladyland and Mr Hudson &
The Library, culminating with fusing melancholy beats is
as joyously teasing as it is
two sold-out support shows
at Hammersmith Apollo with charmingly ominous, and
almost punk by ethos.
30 Seconds to Mars.
During this time they refined Though occasionally
lunging into the tawdry,
the raw beauty of a sound
maybe even cliché, it’s that
they describe as `classical
early ‘80s, circa ‘Holiday’
punk’ and released a very
gleam that allows them to
limited edition debut single
push hard against being
at the beginning of March modular without it popping.
the thumping, Zeppelinsized, riff-raging ‘New York’.
Key track: ‘Fer de Lance’
Key track: ‘New York’
Web:
www.cheaphotelmusic.com
Web:
www.myspace.com/rochell
ebanduk
Words: Kelvin Goodson
Words: Alex Thomson
Photo: Stewart Ruffles
twentytwo
Tubelord’s tour reaches
Manchester in August.
Key track: ‘Feed Me A Box
Of Words’
Web:
www.myspace.com/tubelord
Words: Stephen Eddie
Photo: Stacey Hatfield
Beat The Radar's two track
demo was recorded at the
local favourite Blueprint
Studios and it's a tidy
introduction to their yearning
rush of guitars.
'Misunderstood What You
Said' rings like Interpol back
when they were good but
despite all their earnest
chasing, Beat The Radar
don't aspire to gloom-rock's
gravity, instead adopting a
humdrum melancholy in
their blustery anthems. 'By
The Sea' is the pretty
culmination of this escalating
power-sound, taking in
Idlewild and Bloc Party's
brittle but defiant
emotiveness.
We've been missing
something like this –
desolate yet hopeful New
Wave with an immense
grasp on stadium rock
dynamics – and this is what
we want.
Key track: ‘By The Sea’
Web:
www.myspace.com/beatthe
radar
Words: Fran Donnelly
The good news is that
TIML make even better
songs now than they did
last May. Back then the
songs (such as ‘Imagine
How She Felt’) were synth
heavy and riding the
electro-rock wave being
surfed by Enter Shikari.
Now their use of
electronics is more subtle,
such as on ¡Forward,
Russia!-esque ‘Quagmire’
or ‘No Consequence’s’
pop-rock brilliance. Just
don’t confuse them with
the handy online
lawnmower guide of a
similar name.
This Is My Lawnmower
play the Dry Bar on
June 7th.
Key track: ‘Quagmire’Web:
www.thisismylawnmower
.com
Words: Stephen Eddie
listings JuneGIGLISTINGS
June
Sunday 1st
Tokyo Police Club @ Night & Day Café
Vampire Weekend @ Academy 2
Kinky Friedman @ Academy 3
Tapes n Tapes @ Club Academy
Blind Atlas @ The Attic
Carjack Mallone @ The Ruby Lounge
Glad Eyes @ Tiger Lounge
Liam 1987 @ The Bay Horse
Physic Psurgeons @ Moho Live
The Drake Equation @ Jabez Clegg
The Spires @ One Central Street
Monday 2nd
Lykke Li @ Night & Day Café
Foo Fighters @ City Of Manchester
Stadium
Army Of Freshmen @ Music Box
Tuesday 3rd
Metronomy @ Night & Day Café
The Maybes @ The Roadhouse
Flogging Molly @ Academy 2
The Weakerthans @ Academy 3
The Rascals @ Club Academy
Wednesday 4th
Eaton + Signals @ Night & Day Café
Ladyhawke @ The Roadhouse
Your Demise + Azriel @ Music Box
Palace Fires @ Ruby Lounge
Vetiver @ Dulcimer
Tuesday 10th
Thursday 19th
Heads We Dance + Modernaire @ Night
& Day Café
Die! Die! Die! @ The Roadhouse
Robyn @ Academy 2
The Road To Download @ Academy 3
Alphabeat @ Club Academy
Laura Marling @ St Phillips Church
Ali Campbell @ The Apollo
The Genes + Open Origin @ Night & Day Funeral For a Friend @ Academy 3
Café
Cut Copy @ Night & Day Café
The Naughtys @ Academy 3
Liars + Deerhunter @ Club Academy
Journey @ The Apollo
Wednesday 11th
The Dodos + Magic Arm @ Night & Day
Café
Cage The Elephant @ The Roadhouse
Cat Power @ Academy 1
Darren Hayman & Jack Hayter Play
Hefner Songs @ Ruby Lounge
The Sugars @ Night & Day Café
Glasvegas @ Ruby Lounge
Those Dancing Days @ Night & Day Café
The Automatic @ Academy 2
Mary J Blige @ M.E.N Arena
Karma @ Academy 3
The Beep Seals (Album Launch) @ Deaf
The Phonophobics @ Club Academy
Institute
Boyzone @ M.E.N Arena
Thursday 5th
Friday 6th
Pete and The Pirates @ Night & Day Café
Why? @ The Roadhouse
Black Kids @ Academy 3
Whiskycays @ The Ritz
Boys Noize @ The Club
Solas @ Waterside Arts Centre
Saturday 7th
Divided Attention + The Brightsparks @
Night & Day Café
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks @
Academy 2
Say Anything @ Academy 3
Thea Gilmore @ Club Academy
Neil Diamond @ M.E.N Arena
Yazoo @ The Apollo
Sunday 8th
The Night Marchers @ Night & Day Café
Natty @ The Roadhouse
I Was a Cub Scout @ Academy 3
Morcheeba @ Club Academy
Estelle @ The Ritz
Cara Dillon @ The Lowry
Neil Diamond @ M.E.N Arena
Monday 9th
Ox. Eagle. Lion. Man @ Night & Day Café
None The Less @ Music Box
Cartel @ Club Academy
twentyfour
July
Friday 20th
Sunday 15th
Joseph Arthur @ Night & Day Café
Blue Oyster Cult @ Academy 2
Monday 16th
The Twilight Sad @ Night & Day Café
Sergeant @ The Roadhouse
Craig David @ The Lowry
Rival Schools @ Academy 3
Paulasville @ Zion Arts Centre
Tuesday 17th
Red Vinyl Fur (Single launch party) @
Night & Day Café
Fleet Foxes & Beach House @ The
Roadhouse
Queensryche @ Academy 1
Toots & The Maytals @ Academy 2
The Aliens @ Academy 3
Wednesday 18th
Bashphelt @ Night & Day Café
Innocent Gun @ Jilly’s Rockworld
The Police @ M.E.N Arena
Paulasville @ Zion Arts Centre
Tuesday 1st
The Cave Singers @ Night & Day Café
The Reign + The Reveres @ Night & Day The Whigs @ The Roadhouse
Café
The Music @ Academy 1
The Tides & Juno Ashes @ Academy 3
Brian Jonestown Massacre @ Academy 2
Def Leppard + Whitesnake @ M.E.N
Jason Mraz @ The Ritz
Arena
Saturday 21st
The Last Loft + Vinyl Youth @ Night &
Day Café
Uniformed @ Academy 3
Thursday 12th
Elivation @ Club Academy
The Ambush + Little Fields @ Night & Day Broken Records @ Ruby Lounge
Café
Santana @ M.E.N Arena
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan @
Mark Morriss @ Dry Bar
Academy 2
Michael McDonald @ The Apollo
Diane Cluck + Emmy The Great @ Deaf
Institute
Sunday 22nd
John Fogerty @ The Apollo
Friday 13th
Bon Jovi @ City Of Manchester Stadium
Matthew Dear @ Night & Day Café
Saving Aimee @ Jabez Clegg
Jay Scott Project @ The Roadhouse
The Nouvelles @ Academy 3
Monday 23rd
The Lancashire Hotpots @ Club Academy LAB Records Tour @ Music Box
Britain’s Got Talent @ The Apollo
Boyzone @ M.E.N Arena
Tuesday 24th
Out From Animals @ Dry Bar
Rolo Tomassi @ The Roadhouse
White Williams @ Ruby Lounge
Dave Arcari @ Ruby Lounge
Saturday 14th
Monday 30th
Wednesday 25th
Fake Kings @ Night & Day Café
Infadels @ The Roadhouse
John Mayer @ Academy 1
Kathleen Edwards @ Academy 3
Buddy Guy @ Bridgewater Hall
Sole & Skyrider @ Music Box
Thursday 26th
Dying Fetus @ Music Box
Negative Appoach @ Star & Garter
Friday 27th
Hayley Faye + All The Kings Men @ Night
& Day Café
My Morning Jacket @ Academy 2
Stone Gods @ Academy 3
Matt Schofield @ Club Academy
Acousticfest- Alternative Glastonbury
Weekend @ M19 Bar
George Benson @ M.E.N Arena
Kunt & The Gang @ Dry Bar
The Aftershow @ Moho Live
Saturday 28th
The Romes + Up To The Rafters @ Night
& Day Café
My Bloody Valentine @ The Apollo
Guns 2 Roses @ Ruby Lounge
The Fall @ Academy 2
Richard Fleeshman @ Club Academy
Shels + Latitudes @ Music Box
Sunday 29th
My Bloody Valentine @ The Apollo
Radiohead @ L.C.C.C
MC4 Life @ Contact Theatre
July
Saturday 12th
Yngwie Malmsteen @ Academy 2
Summer In The Park @ Platt Fields Park
Giselle @ The Lowry
Parts and Labor @ Salford Islington Mill
Monday 14th
Revolver @ The Roadhouse 11pm- 2am
Monday @ The Ritz 10pm- 2am
Up The Racket @ Joshua Brooks 10pm2am
Murder By Death @ Night & Day Café
Oxbow + Harvey Milk @ Ruby Lounge
Tuesday
Summer In The Park @ Platt Fields Park
Tuesday 15th
The Galvatrons @ The Roadhouse
Beck @ The Apollo
The Rotted (aka Gorerotted) @ Music
Box
Kylie @ M.E.N Arena
Wednesday 16th
Manifesto + Grand Architects @ Night &
Day Café
Mick Hucknall- Tribute To Bobby @ The
Apollo
Curious Generation presents…TBC @
Night & Day Café
Watermelon Slim @ Academy 3
Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip @ Club
Academy
Death Cab For Cutie @ The Apollo
Smudge @ Music Box
Friday 4th
Thursday 17th
Mutineers + Charlie & The Ghosts @
Night & Day Café
Spocks Beard @ Academy 3
You Me At Six @ Club Academy
Carjack Mallone @ The Ritz
Kylie @ M.E.N Arena
Saturday 5th
White Light Parade + The Jannocks @
Night & Day Café
Tift Merritt @ Academy 3
Arnocorps @ Satans Hollow
Friday 18th
Heathseeds + Would Be Emperors @
Night & Day Café
An Evening With The Punch Brothers @
Academy 2
Kylie @ M.E.N Arena
Saturday 19th
The Maple State @ Night & Day Café
Scottfest @ Satans Hollow
Monday 7th
Tuesday 22nd
Jack Johnson @ M.E.N Arena
Consort With Romeo + WeHaveAGetway
@ Music Box
Designer Magazine present…TBC @
Night & Day Café
The B52’S @ Academy 1
Bane @ Music Box
Tuesday 8th
Interpol @ The Apollo
Hayseed Dixie @ Waterside Arts Centre
Profane @ The Roadhouse
Wednesday 23rd
Chaka Khan @ The Bridgewater Hall
Thursday 24th
Wednesday 9th
The School + Amida @ Night & Day Café
Eddy Grant @ Academy 2
Comeback Kid @ Academy 3
Alicia Keys @ M.E.N Arena
An Evening With Pentangle @ Palace
Theatre
Thursday 10th
Transgressive Hot Summer Tour feat.
Jeremy Warmsley @ Night & Day Café
Jaguar Love @ The Roadhouse
Furthest Drive Home @ Music Box
Friday 11th
The Merge + Ashanay @ Night & Day
Café
The Rocket Summer @ Academy 2
Reemer @ Academy 3
The Rocket Summer @ Club Academy
Kylie @ M.E.N Arena
Sex With Robots @ The Roadhouse
11pm- late
Way Back When @ Po Na Na 9pm- 2am
Click Click @ Font Bar 9pm- 1am
The Alternative @ The Venue 11pm- late
Wednesday
Retro @ 42nd Street 10pm- late
Klub Knowhere (3rd p/m) @ Joshua
Brooks 10pm-2.30am
Tramp @ Club North 10pm- 2am
Thursday
The Firebrand + The Chartists @ Night &
Day Café
Jay-Z @ M.E.N Arena
Butthole Surfers @ Academy 2
Mike Borgia @ Dry Bar
Sunday 6th
June-July
Monday
Sunday 13th
Wednesday 2nd
Thursday 3rd
CLUBLISTINGS
An Evening With Daniel Johnston &
Friends @ New Century Hall
Friday 25th
From Manchester With Love @ 42nd
Street 10pm- 2am
Don’t Think Twice… @ Font Bar 9pm1am
Romp @ One Central Street @ 9.30pm3am
In The City @ The Venue 11pm- late
Risky Business @ Joshua Brooks
Friday
Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll @ The
Roadhouse
Friday Feeling @ 5th Avenue 10pm- 3am
Keys, Money, Lipstick @ Star & Garter
Glamorous Indie Rock n’ Roll @ 42nd
Street
Popscene @ The Brickhouse 10.30pm2.30am
Relief @ Club Alter Ego 11pm- 4am
Another Planet @ South 10pm- 3am
Homoelectric @ Legends 10pm- 4am
Twist and Shout @ The Venue 10pm3am
Don’t Miss This @ Retro Bar
Guilty Pleasures @ One Central Street
10pm- 3am
Club Clique @ Mint Lounge
Dirty Tourism presents Bigger Than Jesus
(last Fri p/m) @ Joshua Brooks
Locked (2nd fri p/m) @ Joshua Brooks
Audio Salad (3rd fri p/m) @ Joshua
Brooks
The Aftershow @ Moho Live
Saturday 26th
The Orchids + My Captive Audience @
Night & Day Café
Monday 28th
Johnny Truant @ Music Box
Please email your gig and club
listings for June/July 08 to
[email protected]
Next deadline is May 16th
Compiled by Mike Caulfield
Tuesday 29th
The Acacia Strain @ Music Box
KD Lang @ Bridgewater Hall
Wednesday 30th
Billy Idol @ The Apollo
Mirrorview @ Jilly’s Rockworld
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Creamfields - 10 years and counting
This August,
Creamfields returns
for what will be a
landmark tenth time in
the UK. Boasting one
of its strongest ever
DJ line-ups - as well
as live acts such as
Kasabian, Ian Brown
and Pendulum - the
party has switched to
a two-day format and
looks posed to be one
of the few genuinely
fresh weekenders in a
year of festival
overkill. HV caught up
with organiser James
Barton to look back at
a decade in which
Creamfields became
a worldwide
phenomenon and to
see what the future
holds for dance
music's premier
summer shindig.
HV: Firstly James,
congratulations on reaching
ten years with Creamfields. As
you prepare for this summer's
event, what has changed since
the first?
James: “It doesn't feel like ten
years at all, especially when you
compare it to running Cream which did feel like ten years! The
first one took place in
Winchester, but other than that
the format hasn't really changed.
We've added the second day and
a few bands who wouldn't
ordinarily be associated with
Creamfields, but we never felt we
had to be dramatically different.
“With this being the tenth
anniversary, it might have been
tempting to pat ourselves on the
back and take a trip down
memory lane. But we wanted to
reposition it for the next ten years
- it's still got places to go.”
HV: Would you say that it is no
longer the case that you are
competing with other dance
festivals such as Global
Gathering and Gatecrasher's
Summer Soundsystem - you
are now looking to take on the
more traditional events like
Reading etc?
“No, those guys are still our
competitors - the heartbeat of
Creamfields is and always will be
dance music. I get pissed off
when dance music is dismissed
as irrelevant, when it is still the
most exciting form of music
around today. You can see the
influence it has had on pop and
rock, and you can see the
influence of Creamfields on other
festivals. Why should Reading
and Leeds be the first port of call
for 16 to 17-year-olds? And if
those festivals can put on people
like The Chemical Brothers, why
shouldn't we take their headliners
too?”
HV: Creamfields is now in
Halton, having been in Speke
and Winchester. Will the
festival be staying there
permanently?
and get absolutely pissed!”
“We really hope so. We were
forced to move from Speke
because of redevelopment, but it
was a good time to move as it
allowed us to change the format.
Plus I thought the festival
deserved a better site - a lot of
events were taking place in
beautiful places, so why couldn't
we have that for Creamfields?”
“Bringing it back to Liverpool,
Creamfield's spiritual home. We
had a falling out with our partners
in Winchester and lost the site.
We found ourselves organising a
festival in Liverpool for 30,000+
people, and we had no idea of
how it'd go. But when we got the
gates open, we knew we'd done
it. The tiredness and the
occasion got to me and I did find
the tears rolling down the
cheeks!”
HV: Is there anything on this
year's line-up that you're
especially excited about?
“I'm curious to see
how Kasabian will
work, as this is my
fourth attempt at
booking them! If we
can get 30,00035,000 people in front
of that stage, they will
blow the roof off.”
HV: With all the work that goes
into making Creamfields a
success, how much are you
able to enjoy the festival?
“I'll get to see as many of the
bands and DJs as possible, but
I'll always be on tenterhooks! I
don't get drunk, it's too important
that I can't switch off. My buzz
comes from seeing others having
a good time, from bands and DJs
telling me that they loved their
gig. Once it's all out of the way,
me and all the team will go out
HV: Looking back over the ten
years, what has been your
proudest achievement for
Creamfields?
HV: As the party enters its
second decade, what do you
think it can still achieve?
“I want us to be a festival that
people want to play - modern,
groundbreaking and different.
The place where people play just
before they become huge, which
is when I think they're at their
most exciting. We're about youth,
noise and hedonism. Justice,
New Young Pony Club and
Ladytron are all acts still on their
way up - and they've all played at
Creamfields. That's exactly what
I want us to be about - modern,
exciting music.”
Words: Neil Condron
www.creamfields.com
Creamfields, 23rd – 24th August,
Daresbury, Cheshire
www.creamfields.com Creamfields, 23rd – 24th August, Daresbury, Cheshire
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